When free agency opened Tuesday, few teams were more eager to spend new money than the Broncos. For starters, the Broncos agreed in principle with Louis Vasquez, a right guard from the rival San Diego Chargers, on a four-year, $23.5 million contract that guarantees his first two season payout of $13 million.

Take that, Mike McCoy. He never got a chance to coach Vasquez. McCoy was the Broncos' offensive coordinator the past four years and he's the Chargers' head coach now.

"I wanted to be happy were I'm at," Vasquez said by phone Tuesday. "The location, the team I was going to play for — Denver's a great team and then you throw (quarterback) Peyton Manning in there and it's that much better. And then I was happy with the deal. I think it's going to be a great place for me."

The Broncos then re-signed their own defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson to a two-year contract expected to be worth between $4 million and $5 million. Vasquez said he prefers to play at 335 pounds and Vickerson played last season for the Broncos at 330 pounds.

When throwing around money, the Broncos put some weight behind it. The Broncos also set up visits with former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall, Jacksonville defensive tackle Terrance Knighton, Philadelphia cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Arizona middle linebacker/special-teamer Stewart Bradley.

The team is also interested in Detroit safety Louis Delmas, but did not have a visit set up as of Tuesday night.

Actually, the Broncos didn't put a major dent into the Loomis truck. In balancing their potential spending spree on new players is their pay-cut request to defensive end Elvis Dumervil and release Monday of linebacker D.J. Williams and his $6 million salary.

Vasquez might wind up the team's biggest ticket item, in every sense of the word. Mendenhall is a terrific talent, but after a forgettable final season in Pittsburgh, he's willing to accept a one-year, make-good contract. He will also visit Arizona and Bruce Arians, the Cardinals' new head coach and the Steelers' former offensive coordinator.